Chad Balster first started working in glass in Minneapolis in 1996 as a balmy summer job. He followed the “Hot Glass” to assist in the construction of White Pine Studio in Battle Lake, Minnesota. Then it was off to Louisville, where he was invited to be a resident artist at the Louisville Glassworks in Kentucky. It was here that Chad was producing innovative glass, teaching classes, and building mobile glassblowing equipment. In 2023, Chad opened a new glass studio in Louisville near the Jefferson Memorial Forest, where he and his team are able to work on and explore new methods of working with glass. This chapter is an exciting opportunity to focus on established forms as well as new designs and color possibilities. Currently, he’s exhibiting throughout the Midwest, from Minnesota to Tennessee and all points between. His signature series, “Pods,” is inspired by historical glass from the medieval period. These forms seem to have an ecology of their own and depart from traditional vessels. They are covered in blown appendages and expressive bit-work that seems dynamic and spontaneous, granting them a sense of motion or even locomotion.